Kotzebue resident Michelle Kubalack has been looking forward to an upcoming trip to Hawaii. Over the last year, she’s picked up extra jobs and worked more hours so that she can afford to take the entire family.
It's not just a vacation. Her daughter is finishing high school in Hawaii.
“I would be so heartbroken if I'm not able to make it to my daughter's graduation,” Kubalack said.
Nearly a month ahead of the trip, Kubalack visited the Kotzebue DMV to get new REAL ID-compliant drivers’ licenses. There were half a dozen people waiting. She said they were also there trying to get their REAL IDs.
The REAL ID deadline has been extended several times. Statewide, the Division of Motor Vehicles has issued the IDs for over six years, according to a representative from the division. REAL ID will be required for airline travel, but it is also required to enter a military base or federal building.
“You have all these folks in the villages that are coming to town and hoping to walk in to get their IDs and having to go back to wherever they either flew or drove from.”
When Kubalack says “drove,” she means by snowmachine. No roads connect Kotzebue to the outlying villages. This time of year, snowmachining and expensive flights are the only ways to get around.
The DMV office serves the community and a dozen neighboring villages. It’s only open for three and a half hours each day, Monday through Friday. Its one employee splits her time also working for the Alaska Department of Public Safety.
When it was Kubalack’s turn, she found out she didn't have all the required documents. When she rescheduled online, the DMV emailed her that it would be closed for the next few weeks because the employee had an “unexpected life event.”
DMV officials say the office in Kotzebue will reopen on May 12. Kubalack’s family is scheduled to leave two days later.
“If the office is closed on that week, basically, my family won't be able to go watch my daughter graduate,” Kubalack said.
It's been stressful.
“I don't blame the only employee that we have at the DMV, I know it's out of her control,” she said. “It's more towards the DMV office and the state. I’m just hoping and wishing that they could make it a priority by sending other people in place of the employee that's not at the office.”
Many residents are also concerned they might be unable to fly to Anchorage for medical care.
“Ensuring that DMV offices remain open and accessible to the public is a top priority for us,” said Lauren Whiteside, the DMV’s division operations manager. “That being said, smaller staff offices like Kotzebue present unique challenges when unexpected circumstances arise.”
Whiteside said the state has no intention of sending a relief worker to Kotzebue.
“While we do have a mobile unit, it does take quite a bit of prep work ahead of time to bring the mobile unit to communities that have no access to DMV services,” Whiteside said.
The Mobile DMV program so far has served four communities in the Bristol Bay Region. Bristol Bay Native Corp. paid for the program.
There are other compliant documents besides the REAL ID, like a passport or photo ID from a federally recognized tribe.
But in the Northwest Arctic, the tribal offices in two communities, Kobuk and Ambler, aren't able to issue tribal IDs at this time.
A representative from the Native Village of Kotzebue said the tribe doesn't have TSA compliant documents but expects to receive them within the next few days.
TSA issued a press release in January saying that it plans to begin “phased enforcement” starting on May 7, but has not provided additional information on what that means. The agency could not be reached for comment.
Whiteside encouraged people with concerns to review the Alaska DMV website for additional information.
